Thatcher urges Brown to allow EU treaty referendum

"This Treaty matters Prime Minister, so be bold and let the British people have the final say!"

The former Prime Minister backed the newspaper campaigns for a referendum, saying: "Yet again the British people are being told that the changes in the Treaty are not important, that they are technical, and that in any case we have either blocked or gained opt-outs in all the worst cases.

"Well we've heard it all before only to see more and more power grabbed by Brussels.

"This Treaty is a blue-print for a European Constitution in all but name - a Constitution which has already been rejected," she said in today's Sun.

Lady Thatcher told the Prime Minister not to believe assurances from Brussels, saying she was given similar assurances when she was in No 10.

The Prime Minister recently invited Lady Thatcher to Downing Street where she visited him on September 13.

The pair had an hour of private talks during a visit which lasted two hours and 12 minutes.

She was also given a guided tour of No 10 and took tea with Mr Brown, his wife Sarah and Chancellor Alistair Darling's wife Margaret in her old flat.